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THE FROZEN NORTH 



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ILLUSTRA TED. 



NEW YORK: 
DODD, MEAD, AND COMPANY, 

751 BROADWAY. 

[is 7 g 



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Copyright, 1876, Dodd, Mead, &• Company. 



Press 0/ Rand, Avery, and Co?npany, Boston. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



i. A Russian Carriage Frontispiece 

2. An Old Woman of Greenland page 9 

3. The Barren Grounds in Summer 14 

4. Egg Gathering 21 

5. Arctic Birds 23 

6. Bird Catching 25 

7. The Edge of a Pack 30 

8. Lifted by the Ice 32 

9. Among the Icebergs 33 

10. Encounter with Icebergs 35 

11. An Arctic Scene , 37 

12. A Greenland Glacier 43 

13. Arctic Navigation 47 

14. Seal-hunting on the Ice 52 

15. Walrus 54 



8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

16. Walrus 56 

17. Polar Bears 61 

18. An Unpleasant Experience 64 

19. Greenlanders 67 

20. Esquimaux Hut 71 

21. Esquimaux Village .- 74 

22. Dog Sledge 76 

23. Arctic Dog 77 

24. Danish Settlement in Greenland 80 

25. The River Jokulsa 87 

26. Mt. Hecla 90 

27. Great Geyser 91 

28. Reykjavik. . . 95 

29. Travelling in Iceland 99 

30. Icelandic Interior 102 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

A S we travel northward, 
leaving the sunny lands 
of the temperate zone, we 
come after a time to mighty 
and seemingly endless forests 
of pines and firs. Mile after 
mile, they stretch away in a 
lonely silence. The wintry 
gale that rages among them 
is answered only by the howl 
of the wolf, while a few bears, 
reindeer, and the arctic fox, 
alone of animals, find a home 

AN OLD WOMAN. 

of Greenland, in their snowy depths. 




IO THE FROZEN NORTH. 

Gradually as we go onward the trees are 
more stunted, gradually the pines and firs 
give way to dwarfed willows, and soon we 
come to the barren grounds, a vast region 
extending about the pole, and greater in size 
than the whole continent of Europe. 

The boundary line of these barren 
grounds, is not everywhere equally distant 
from the pole. The temperature of arctic 
lands, like that of other climes, is affected 
greatly by the surrounding seas and by 
ocean currents. In the sea-girt peninsula of 
Labrador they reach their most extreme 
southerly point ; and as a rule they extend 
southward where the land borders on the 
ocean, receding far to the northward in the 
centre of the continents. 

All this vast territory is a frozen waste, 
its only vegetation a few mosses and lichens. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. II 

The few weeks of arctic summer do not 
allow the growth of even shrubs. As we 
advance through the forests the trees are 
more and more dwarfed. Soon they become 
merely stunted stems, for though they put 
forth buds in summer, winter is upon them 
before wood can be formed. On the shores 
of the Great Bear Lake, it is said that a 
trunk a foot in diameter requires four hun- 
dred years for its formation. 

A more desolate scene than the barren 
grounds in winter, it is difficult to imagine. 
Buried deep under the heaped up snows, 
with the winds howling across their dreary 
wastes, and an intense cold of which we have 
little idea, it is no wonder that almost no 
animal, save the hardy arctic fox, can find a 
subsistence upon them. 

But no sooner does the returning sun 



12 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

bring the short weeks of summer than all 
this is changed, and they are the scene of 
varied life and activity. Vast herds of rein- 
deer come from the forests to feed upon the 
fresh mosses, flocks of sea-birds fly north- 
ward to lay their eggs upon the rocks, and 
to seek their food in the rivers teeming with 
fish, while millions of gnats fill the air in 
clouds, enjoying to the utmost their short 
lives. 

And their lives are indeed short, for it is 
almost July before the snows are gone and 
the hardy lichens can send forth shoots, and 
by September all vegetation is again beneath 
its snowy coverlet for another long nine 
months' sleep. The reindeer have, before 
this, made haste to seek the shelter of the 
forest, the bears have disposed of themselves 
for their winter sleep, the birds have all 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 13 

sought the milder region southward, and all 
is again silence and solitude. 

It is due to the snow, that at first seems 
such an enemy to vegetation, that even such 
low forms of life as mosses are able to exist 
on the barren grounds. Before the intense 
cold of the arctic winter has set in, they are 
buried deep beneath its warm folds. Out- 
side the wind may howl and the cold grow 
more and more severe till the thermometer 
marks for months forty degrees below zero ; 
beneath the snow an even and comparatively 
mild temperature exists. Dr. Kane found 
that when the outside air was thirty below 
zero, beneath eight feet of snow it was twen- 
ty-six above zero, a difference of fifty-six 
degrees. 

Great as are the barren grounds, or tundri, 
as they are called in Siberia, the arctic 



H 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



forest region is far greater, for it reaches 
around the globe in a broad belt, neariy 




E&- 




THE BARREN GROUNDS IN SUMMER. 

a thousand miles in width. Few indeed are 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 15 

the occupants of these great tracts, compared 
with the more favored southern lands. The 
poverty of the soil, and the severity of the 
climate, prevent the growth of crops, and 
man is offered only such subsistence as can 
be gained by hunting and fishing. In conse- 
quence they are inhabited but by scattered 
tribes of savages and by hardy trappers, 
who brave their dangers for the rich booty 
to be gained from their many fur-bearing 
animals. 

Of all the four footed inhabitants of these 
forests, by far the most interesting is the 
reindeer. What the camel is to the native 
of the desert, the reindeer is to the Lapp, 
or the Samojede. While it cannot compare 
with its finely formed relative the stag, it 
is excellently fitted for the situation in which 
nature has placed it. Its hoofs are very broad, 



l6 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

forming a species of snow shoe, which pre- 
vents it from sinking in the drifts and allows 
it to leap and run with the greatest swiftness, 
while the squarely-built body, short legs and 
broad hoofs are of the greatest help in swim- 
ming. The most surprising thing about rein- 
deer is their sense of smell. For the greater 
part of the year, their food consists entirely 
of mosses which are buried beneath the snow. 
These they uncover with their feet, having 
first discovered their existence by their scent, 
and no case has ever been known, where 
a reindeer has made a mistake and dug for 
moss in vain. They are easily domesticated 
and taught to draw a light sledge, though it 
is said when overloaded or otherwise mal- 
treated, they turn upon their persecutors with 
horns and hoofs, and force him to take refuge 
in flight. In many countries, as for instance 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 1 7 

Lapland, they form the chief article of wealth 
and are owned in herds of thousands. Unfor- 
tunately an epidemic disease often appears, 
and the wealthy proprietor sees his whole 
herd die in a single season, while he himself 
must resort to the uncertain occupation of 
the fisherman for support. Besides the rein- 
deer the arctic forests are the home of many 
other animals. Such are the black bear, the 
marten, ermine, mink, sable, various foxes, 
and others. 

Notwithstanding the vast extent of this 
forest region and the small number of its 
inhabitants, so eagerly are all these animals 
hunted for their skins, that already certain 
varieties are fast disappearing. The hand of 
every man is against them, and hundreds of 
thousands fall every year, either by the 
arrow or trap of the native races, or the rifle 



l8 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

ball of the trapper. The number of men 
who follow this life is very great. Wild, 
hazardous and lonely as it is, it possesses for 
them a strange attraction, and though they 
may forsake it for a -time, they invariably 
return to it. 

Nearly the whole of the arctic lands of 
North America are hunted over by the 
Hudson's Bay Company, which has its trading 
forts and its outposts at intervals over the 
whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
cific, and northward to the barren grounds. 
This great company employs as overseers, 
guides, or voyageurs, over three thousand 
men, and may be said beside to have in 
its service nearly every Indian in North 
America ; in all perhaps a hundred thousand 
men. 

Communication is held between the posts 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 1 9 

in the interior by means of voyageurs, who, 
with birch bark canoes, paddle up the rivers, 
carrying immense loads, passing onward 
through the trackless forest as unerringly as 
if upon a broad highway. '• When after a 
hard day's work, they rest for the night, the 
axe is immediately at work in the forest,and in 
less than ten minutes the tent is up, and the 
kettle simmering on the fire. They drag the 
unloaded canoe ashore, turn it over and ex- 
amine it carefully, either to fasten again some 
loose stitches or to paint over some damaged 
part with fresh rosin. Under the cover of the 
boat, and with a flaming fire in the fore- 
ground, they bid defiance to the weather. 
At one o'clock in the morning leve ttve is 
called ; in half an hour the encampment is 
broken up, and the boat reladen and re 
launched. At eight in the morning a halt 



20 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

is made for breakfast, for which three-quar- 
ters of an hour are allowed. About two, 
half an hour's rest suffices for a cold dinner. 
Eighteen hours work and six rest make out 
the day." And this is - not all; presently a 
rapid is reached. Here the whole cargo has 
to be taken out, the boat lifted on the shoul- 
ders of one of the men and carried perhaps 
for several miles through swamp and brier, 
while the cargo is carried by the others in a 
like laborious manner. 

But the scene of greatest life, in the arctic 
regions, is to be found among the birds. On 
the rocky cliffs, that stand out in the Polar 
sea in the short northern summer, they are 
to be found in such quantities as to lite- 
rally darken the sky. Auks, and gulls, and 
ducks, cover the rocks. The most daring 
arctic explorer has never penetrated to lands 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



23 



where he has not found the eider duck. 
Well may this bird dare to make journeys 
into tracts where none can follow. With its 
warm coat it can bid defiance to the cold, 




ARCTIC BIRDS. 

and on its swift wing it can fly over fifty 
miles an hour, and should danger arise, can 
soon be beyond its reach. The hardy natives 
of Iceland gather each year large quantities 
of their feathers, which have a high value. 



24 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

Reaching their nests they take from them the 
delicate feathers, which the female bird has 
pulled from her breast to make a soft covering 
for the expected young. No sooner does she 
find her nest bare, than she again pulls a fresh 
supply, which is again taken from her. A 
third time she lines anew her nest, and now 
she is left in peace, for if again disturbed, the 
bird deserts entirely her accustomed breeding 
place, and seeks a new region beyond the 
reach of man. 

Coasts, such as those of Norway, where 
the rock\ cliffs rising hundreds of feet above 
the sea stretch for mile after mile, are 
especially fancied by sea birds. Every ledge 
is crowded with their nests, while the air is 
dark with them. But no cliff can protect 
them against their great enemy, man. No 
cliff is too inaccessible for him to reach. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 27 

Where the rocks can be approached from the 
sea, a boat lands two men on some project- 
ing ledge. Their only aid is a long pole 
terminating in a hook, and the rope by 
which they are tied together. One, using his 
hands and feet, proceeds to climb up the cliff 
to some higher ledge, while his comrade 
fixing the hook firmly in his leathern belt, 
pushes from below till the point is reached. 
He himself is then pulled upward, by the 
rope, till both stand together. Continuing 
this perilous journey, they often ascend to a 
height of five or six hundred feet above the 
sea. Here the birds are so tame that they 
have but to put forth their hand to catch 
them, and the work of destruction begins. 
As fast as killed, they are thrown into the sea 
and picked up by the boat's crew in waiting 
below. Sometimes when the weather is fair, 



28 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

the men spend several days on the cliff, sleep- 
ing at night on some broad ledge. 

When the cliff cannot be reached in this 
way, it is common for a man to be lowered 
over the face of the rock by a rope, as is 
shown in the picture. Hanging thus in mid- 
air, with the ocean roaring a thousand feet 
below and the sea-birds flying wildly about him, 
a single mistake, or often a moment's hesitation, 
would cause his certain death, and a cool head 
alone can be trusted at this perilous work. 

It is said that an ancient law of Norway 
required that when a man fell in this way, his 
nearest relative should at once take the po- 
sition in which the dead man was. If he 
could keep it in safety, Christian burial was 
allowed the body, but if he refused to under- 
take it, death was considered the result of 
recklessness, and the dead man was con- 
sidered a suicide. 



CHAPTER II. 

T)ARREN as are the arctic lands, the 
arctic ocean far exceeds them in deso- 
lation. In the winter it is in many parts 
frozen solidly over to a depth of nine feet, 
forming a level plain stretching as far as the 
eye can reach. But this is generally the case 
only in land-locked bays, or in places where 
surrounding hills give shelter from the furious 
gales that sweep over the dreary waters. 
More often the open sea is one mass of enor- 
mous cakes, tossing and grinding against one 
another in the wildest way. The huge ice 
floes, driven by the wind or by currents, strike 
against one another with fearful force, hurl- 
ing great masses high in the air. Woe to 



30 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

the unfortunate ship that is caught in such 
a rough embrace. Her oaken timbers are 
crushed like egg shells. It has happened 




THE EDGE OF A PACK. 

that a ship thus caught, has been- lifted bod- 
ily, by the ice coming slowly together, out of 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 3 1 

the water and laid neatly upon it, and the 
sailors have been forced to saw the ice about 
her, so as to launch her again from this 
sudden and unexpected dry dock. 

Through all this grinding tossing mass 
come majestically floating southward huge 
icebergs, passing through all this strife, and 
heeding it as little as some cliff the waves 
that dash and roar about its base and cover 
it with spray. Sometimes these mighty 
masses are no pleasant neighbors, for as they 
float southward under the ever increasing 
heat of the sun, during the months of July 
and August large cataracts pour from them, 
and the whole mass becomes rotten and sud- 
denly goes to pieces in huge fragments each 
as large as a ship, which would inevitably de- 
stroy anything with which they came into con- 
tact. Dr. Hayes' vessel, the United States, 



32 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



had a narrow escape from destruction in this 
way. For four days they had been sailing 
through seas where the bergs seemed to be 
countless, some a mile in length and tower- 




ing high in air, others no larger than the ship 
itself. In a calm, the vessel had drifted 
close to one which looked particularly dan- 
gerous, and before a rope could be made 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



35 



fast to another berg and the ship be hauled 
from its unsafe position, it had struck. 
Though the collision was a slight one, such 




ENCOUNTER WITH ICEBERGS. 



masses of ice came rattling down upon the 
deck as to render anything but pleasant 
the position of the men stationed there. 



36 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

Suddenly a huge mass of the submerged part 
broke off and came to the surface, lashing it 
to foam. Then a succession of loud reports 
was heard, and vast masses broke off the 
opposite side of the berg, causing it to reel to 
and fro, and sending showers of ice on the 
vessel's deck. By this time the crew sent 
out to make fast a rope to another berg gave 
the signal to haul, and never did men pull 
more lustily ; and with good reason, for they 
had barely got clear when with a loud report 
the whole top broke loose, and fell exactly 
where the vessel had lain a few minutes be- 
fore, causing a swell on which the ship tossed 
to and fro as if in a gale. Soon after a huge 
berg in the distance began to go to pieces. 
" First a lofty tower came plunging into the 
water, starting from their inhospitable perch 
an immense flock of gulls that went scream- 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 39 

ing into the air ; over went another ; then a 
whole side settled squarely down ; then the 
wreck capsized, and at length after five hours 
of rolling and crashing, there remained of this 
splendid mass, not a fragment that rose fifty 
feet above the water. Another, which 
appeared to be a mile in length and upwards 
of a hundred feet in height, split in two with 
a quick, sharp, and at length long rumbling 
report, which could hardly have been ex- 
ceeded by a thousand pieces of artillery sim- 
ultaneously discharged." Lofty as are these 
icebergs, the part above water gives no true 
idea of their vast size. It has been com- 
puted that of fresh water ice floating in salt 
water, only one-seventh is visible above the 
sea. In i860, a huge iceberg lay off the 
little harbor of Tessuissak on the Greenland 
coast. It had grounded there two years 



40 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

before, and had not moved since. It was 
three-quarters of a mile in length and 
towered by actual measurement, three hun- 
dred and fifteen feet in the air, so that it must 
have come to anchor in water half a mile in 
depth. 

Whence come these mighty masses ? 
They are discharged from the frozen rivers of 
the North, the great glaciers that line the 
west coast of Greenland and the shores of 
Iceland. The constant snows of the arctic 
regions falling on the mountains and drifting 
into the valleys, solidify into mighty glaciers 
which, pent in by the rocky hills, come sweep- 
ing through the winding valleys to the sea. 
Great as are the glaciers of the Alps, they are 
but pigmies compared with those of Green- 
land. The Tyndail glacier where it discharges 
into the sea is two miles in width ; — but 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 4 1 

grand above all is the great Humboldt glacier, 
whose lofty face reaches three hundred feet 
above the sea level and beneath it to an 
unknown depth, while it is over sixty miles 
in width. Slowly but steadily this whole 
mass is pushed forward. The angle at which 
it descends from the hills soon forces under 
the water a greater part of the ice than would 
be submerged were it floating unattached, 
and the natural buoyancy of the ice causes it 
to break loose with a thundering report. 
Splashing and plunging, it finally rights it- 
self and goes majestically sailing on borne 
by the currents, till melted by the warmer 
waters of the Atlantic it finally disappears 
entirely. 

The amount of snow that falls upon the 
arctic lands is unknown. It is no doubt very 
great. In the Swiss Alps in a single night it 



42 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

has fallen to the depth of six and a half feet. 
At the Hospice of Grimsel, Agassiz noted 
in six months a fall of fifty-seven and a half 
feet. If we suppose that no more than this 
falls on the mountains of Greenland, we 
should have an annual deposit of one hundred 
and fifteen feet. Now every cubic yard of 
snow weighs one hundred and eighty-seven 
pounds, so that the lower strata would have 
upon it a pressure of over three tons, a weight 
sufficient to change the snow at once to solid 
ice. This change into ice by pressure can be 
noticed on a small scale by any one who 
walks abroad after a slight fall of snow. On 
ceasing to walk, the bottom of the boot will 
be found to be covered with a thin layer of 
ice. 

In this way the great arctic glaciers are 
formed, and take up their slow and solemn 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 45 

march to the sea. At what rate they advance 
is not known, but their movement like that 
of a river is much more rapid in the centre 
of the mass than at the sides, where contact 
with the earth retards its onward movements. 
In the Alps, where the nature and actions of 
great frozen streams have been studied with 
care, the movements of the different glaciers 
are found to be unlike. Some reach a speed 
of five hundred feet a year, but a great pro- 
portion of this is made during the summer 
heat. Since the summer in the arctic regions 
is so very short, it is fair to infer that the 
arctic glaciers move more slowly than this. 

The speed of the Glacier des Bossons was 
exactly measured in a strange manner. In 
1820 three guides fell into a chasm in the ice 
at the foot of Mt . Blanc and disappeared. 
In the years 1861,1863 and 1865, the glacier 



46 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

delivered up their remains at its termination, 
three and a quarter miles from where they 
perished. In i860 a glacier of the Austrian 
Alps which is of very slow motion laid 
bare the frozen body of. a mountaineer, clad 
in an ancient dress which had not been 
worn by the peasantry for centuries. 

In spite of all these dreary wastes of ice, 
the arctic ocean is by no means devoid of life. 
The waters of the polar seas are renowned for 
their clearness. Off the Greenland coast the 
bottom can plainly be seen at a depth of five 
hundred feet, and the tangled masses of sea- 
weed which grow upon it. Through these 
clear waves can be seen many varieties of sea 
life. The surface currents of the Gulf Stream 
bring hither tiny molluscs in such quantities 
that at times the waters are colored by them. 
In and out among them swim schools of the 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 49 

Greenland whale, swallowing them as they 
swim by the hundred thousand. 

It is no quiet haven of rest for the whale. 
His great enemy, man, knows only too well his 
favorite resort, and here every year braving 
the dangers of ice and cold come fleets of 
whaling ships seeking the almost certain re- 
turn of their hardy labors, even though it may 
involve, as it generally does, a winter of en- 
forced idleness in some ice-bound bay. 

Smaller members of the whale family 
abound, too, in vast numbers. Sometimes 
venturing too near the shores of inhabited 
islands, they are intercepted in their attempts 
to escape to the open sea by the natives, who 
surrounding them in canoes, drive them with 
blows of the oar and with stones toward the 
shore, where they are stranded and die in 
vast numbers. On the Faroe Islands, in this 



50 THE FROZE* NORTH. 

way on one occasion, eight hundred were 
captured, a fortune which does not often 
happen, but is peculiarly happy since it ren- 
ders certain a winter of plenty. 

The Esquimaux who inhabit the northern 
limits of North America are perhaps the most 
daring hunters of the whale, though from their 
limited resources and poor weapons they do 
not carry before them the same destruction 
that do the w T ell organized and disciplined 
crews of whaling ships. Approaching care- 
fully in their frail canoes their victim, they 
drive into him the barbed end of a long shaft 
to the other end of which is attached an 
inflated bag of seal skin. Carefully avoiding 
the wrath of the great monster, they attack 
him again and again, until conquered at last 
he is towed ashore amid the rejoicings of 
the tribe who assemble for the feast. No 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 5 1 

time is lost in preparing for the banquet. 
The Esquimaux indulge in no such luxury 
as cooking, but all stand about devouring 
with rapture the strips of raw blubber which 
they have cut from the quivering side of their 
booty. In the capture of the seal, too, the 
Esquimaux show great cunning. At times 
they hunt them on the ice where they love 
to lie basking in the sun, creeping cautiously 
along till they come near enough to strike 
them with a harpoon. Great care has to be 
used that they do not take alarm. Sometimes 
the hunter pushes before him on a sledge a 
white screen, behind which he hides himself 
until ready to strike. The middle of sum- 
mer is the best time for this, for then the seal 
is afflicted with snow blindness so as not to 
know of his approach. Another mode of cap- 
ture, is to let down into the water a net with 



52 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



coarse meshes which is kept down by heavy 
stones fastened to its lower edge. Into these 
meshes the seal blunders when swimming, 
and being unable to get to the surface to 
breathe is soon drowned. In winter a still 




SEAL-HUNTING ON THE ICE-FIELDS. 

different method is in use. Travelling over 
the frozen sea the hunter hears a seal gnaw- 
ing the ice from below, to make a breathing 
hole. His plan is instantly formed. He 
stands motionless with uplifted lance, and no 
sooner does the unfortunate animal nearly 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 53 

work his way through, than the iron barb 
descends through the thin ice and pierces his 
skull. So quiet must the hunter be, that to 
prevent any involuntary motion of his body 
it is sometimes his habit to tie his knees to- 
gether with a thong. 

The hunting of the walrus is carried on 
in very much the same way as that of the 
seal. Sometimes the animal has climbed the 
side of an iceberg to bask in the sun, and 
when he tries to return to the water finds 
the hole through which he made his exit 
frozen over. The wary ^Esquimau guided 
by his dogs is soon upon him. In stormy 
weather, this hunting on the ice is very dan- 
gerous. A sudden gale breaks up the solid 
field, and the unfortunate hunter is carried to 
sea at the mercy of the waves. Dr. Kane 
tells of the adventures of two Esquimaux, 



54 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



Awaklok and Myouk, who were hunting with 
their dogs when a storm burst upon them. 
Instantly the whole sea was one tumultuous 




WALRUS, 



mass of cakes of ice grinding and tossing 
one against another. Realizing that near 
the shore the danger would be greatest, the 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 55 

made with their dogs and a walrus which t Uey 
had just killed, for an iceberg upon which 
they managed after great exertions to find a 
resting place, though they were obliged to 
tie their dogs to projections of ice to avoid 
their being blown away by the gale. One 
whole month they floated on this iceberg 
living on the meat of the walrus, when their 
huge ship grounded, and the weather being 
calm, ice formed sufficiently strong for them 
to escape to the shore. 

The walrus does not interfere with man 
unless attacked, when his long tusks make 
him a very formidable opponent. Dr. Hayes 
tells of an encounter which shows how reso- 
lute an enemy they become. A party in a 
boat had just harpooned a large animal, one 
of a herd, whereupon all took to flight, but 
" in a few minutes the whole herd appeared 



56 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



at the surface about fifty yards away, the 
harpooned animal being among them. The 




THE WALRUS. 

coming up of the herd, was the signal for a 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 57 

scene which baffles description. They ut- 
tered one wild concerted shriek, as if an ago- 
nized cry for help ; and then the air was filled 
with answering shrieks. The ' huk huk huk ' 
of the wounded bull seemed to find an echo 
everywhere, as the cry was taken up and 
passed along from floe to floe like the bugle 
blast passed from a squadron along a line of 
battle, and down from every piece of ice 
plunged the startled beasts. With their ugly 
heads just above water, and with mouths 
wide open, belching forth the dismal ' huk 
huk huk ' they came tearing toward the boat. 
That they meditated an attack, there could 
be no doubt. To escape the onslaught was 
impossible. We had raised a hornet's nest 
about our ears and we must do the best we 
could. Even the wounded animal to which 
we were fast turned upon us, and we became 



58 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

the focus of at least a thousand gaping, bel- 
lowing mouths. 

" It seemed to be the purpose of the wal- 
rus to get their tusks over the gunwale of the 
boat, and it was evident- that in the event of 
one such monster hooking to us, the boat 
would be torn in pieces and we would be 
left floating in the sea helpless. We had 
good motive therefore to be active. Miller 
plied his lance from the bows and gave many 
a serious wound. The men pushed back the 
onset with their oars while Knorr, Jensen and 
myself, loaded and fired our rifles as rapidly 
as we could. Several times we were in jeop- 
ardy, but the timely thrust of an oar or the 
lance or a bullet saved us. Once I thought 
we were surely gone. I had fired and was 
hastening to load ; a wicked looking brute 
was making at us, and it seemed probable 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 59 

that he would be upon us. I stopped loading 
and was preparing to cram my rifle down his 
throat, when Knorr who had got ready his 
weapon sent a fatal shot into his head. 
Again an immense animal, the largest I had 
ever seen, and with tusks apparently three 
feet long, was observed to be making his way 
through the herd with mouth wide open, 
bellowing dreadfully. I was now as before 
busy loading : Knorr and Jensen had just 
discharged their pieces, and the men were 
well engaged with their oars. It was a criti- 
cal moment, but happily I was in time. The 
monster his head high above the water 
was within two feet of the gunwale when I 
raised my piece and fired into his mouth. 
The discharge killed him instantly, and he 
went down like a stone. This ended the 
fray. I know not why, but the whole herd 



60 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

seemed suddenly to take alarm, and all dove 
down with a tremendous splash almost at 
the same instant. When they came up 
again, still shrieking as before, they were 
some distance from the- shore, their heads 
now all pointing seaward making from us as 
fast as they could go, their cries growing 
more and more faint, as they retreated in the 
distance." 

It is hard to know whether to class the 
Polar bear among land animals or sea animals. 
He is a capital swimmer, and can make head- 
way in the waves at the rate of three miles 
an hour. Dr. Hayes found one swimming in 
the open ocean, completely beyond sight of 
land or ice ; evidently he had been carried to 
sea on some floe which had crumbled be- 
neath him. The Esquimaux hunt them with 
dogs which are trained to attract their atten- 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 6$ 

tion in front, till the hunter can plunge his 
lance into their side. A skilful man can thus 
often kill a bear at a single blow, but it is no 
rare thing for him to have to leave his lance 
sticking in the animal's side to take refuge in 
flight. A very ingenious way, which is some- 
times tried, is to take a very stiff piece 
of whalebone, some two inches wide and 
four feet long. This is with much labor 
coiled into a narrow space and then covered 
with blubber, which being frozen holds the 
whalebone in its place. Approaching a bear 
they hurl a spear at him, and when he turns 
to pursue they drop the frozen mass before 
him, which he speedily swallows. The heat 
of the body soon dissolves the blubber, and 
the whalebone being set free springs back 
with great violence, tearing the stomach in 
such a way as to cause speedy death. The 



64 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

bear is very fond of seal, and is almost as ex- 
pert a hunter of them as the Esquimaux. 




Captain McClintock tells of the adventure of 
an Esquimau with one of these bears. He 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 65 

was kneeling on the ice and had just drawn 
up his net in which a seal was caught, when 
he felt a blow upon the shoulder. Fancying 
that it was his companion he paid no atten- 
tion to it, but a heavier blow caused him to 
turn, when he found beside him an enormous 
bear, who tearing the seal from the net de- 
liberately proceeded to eat it. Our friend 
did not dispute his right, but lost no time in 
seeking more comfortable quarters. 



CHAPTER III. 

HP* HE people that, inhabit the Arctic 
Lands are few in number and gene- 
rally but little above the condition of savages. 
In stature they are below the medium height, 
and in appearance far from beautiful. Clean- 
liness is not one of their virtues. Male and 
female dress nearly in precisely the same 
costume, and in winter when they are envel- 
oped in their garments of skins they look 
vastly like a fur bag surmounted by a head. 
Nearly all these Northern races are or have 
been idolaters, and are full of all manner of 
superstitions. Many are the attempts that 
have been made to bring Christianity to them, 
and heroic are the struggles and labors that 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 67 

have been borne, and are to-day being borne 
by zealous ministers. The pay of the Lap 




A YOUNG MAN. A YOUNG WOMAN. 

land or Icelandic priest is rarely more than 
$150 a year, so that his life is one of severe 



68 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

labor. Among the Lapps, who inhabit the 
Scandinavian Peninsula, the value of a pastor 
is estimated by the strength of his voice, and 
consequently his sermons must be delivered 
in the most sonorous tones if he would not 
have the contempt and neglect of his people. 
In spite of all these resonant teachings, 
however, the Lapp is very far from forgetting 
the superstitions that have come down to 
him from his fathers. One tribe carry about 
with them on their travels their gods, which 
are but conical pieces of stone. Sorcerers 
exist who pretend to see the future and to 
give answers from the other world, and 
witches who profess to control the winds. 
Such was the belief in their powers, that it is 
said that at one time it was no rare thing for 
English ships to stop at Archangel to buy a 
wind. Perhaps the most curious of these 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 69 

superstitions, however, is the reverence with 
which the bear is regarded. To the Lapp, 
the bear is the wisest of animals ; he can 
understand every word spoken and hence is 
always mentioned with respect. It may 
seem strange that so wise an animal should 
ever be hunted and slain, but the temptation 
he offers is a strong one. His furry coat 
makes the best kind of winter garments, and 
his flesh is thought a great treat. Therefore 
the hunter after always begging his pardon 
for the insult about to be offered hastens to 
drive his lance into his heart. It is consid- 
ered most disgraceful to kill a bear when 
sleeping, so that if bruin meets his death it is 
always in the open field. When the hunters 
return home with the body, they are greeted 
by the women with words of scorn ; the 
entrances to the huts are barred against 



70 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

them, and they are obliged to force an en- 
trance to their own hearths. In this way it 
is believed the spirit of the bear is appeased. 
His bones are always buried in the same way, 
first the head, then the neck, body, etc., for 
the Lapp believes in the bear's resurrection 
and fears his wrath should he come to life 
and find his bones treated with indignity. 

This reverence does not, however, extend 
to the wolf, for this is an accursed animal. 
On his snow-shoes, and bearing in one hand 
a long pole with which to steer himself, the 
hunter follows swiftly on the wolfs tracks, 
and overtaking him beats out his brains with 
a club, which as a polluted thing he is careful 
to burn at once. Nor will he demean himself 
to touch the skin of his victim, but leaves 
it to be devoured by any animal that may 
chance to find it. The great occupation of 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 73 

the Laplander is the care of herds of reindeer, 
and no doubt the great detestation in which 
the wolf is held is owing to the injury he in- 
flicts upon the herdsman. 

The hut of the Lapp is but a poor affair. 
Its frame is a few poles bent together at the 
top, its walls skins sewed together. The floor 
is covered with skins, in its centre flames a 
smoky fire, and about it sleeps the owner of the 
house curled up in a heap like one of his dogs. 

Such a hut as this would be of little use 
to the Esquimau, who lives far to the north- 
ward on the American continent amid per- 
petual snow. His house is most ingeniously 
formed. With solid blocks of snow about a 
foot in thickness, he builds its circular wall and 
dome-like roof. A tunnel-like entrance is 
made through which he enters on hands and 
feet, while a block of snow fills" the narrow 



74 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



doorway keeping out the cold air. With his 
skins spread out upon the floor and his oil 



■mmmmm 
- 




,^C 




AN ESQUIMAUX VILLAGE. 



lamp lighted, he soon has a temperature 
which is perhaps as much too warm as the 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 75 

outer air is too cold. The arctic explorer 
sometimes comes upon a village of such huts 
clustered under some protecting cliff or near 
some favorite hunting or fishing ground. 

The Esquimau is a hearty eater. The 
intense cold to which he is always exposed 
gives him a raging appetite. Parry once made 
trial of the ability of a young man, who was 
furnished with all the food he wished. In 
twenty hours he had eaten eight and a half 
pounds of meat, nearly two pounds of bread, 
a pint and a quarter of rich soup, a tumbler 
and three wine glasses of spirits, and over a 
gallon of water. But the Esquimau is not 
alone in his appetite. At Jakutsk in Siberia, 
Sir George Simpson gave two natives each 
thirty six pounds of boiled beef, while the same 
amount of melted butter was put before them 
to drink. They entered upon, their undertak- 



76 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



ing with great zest. One was old, the other 

young. The younger 




man at first seemed 
to make the greater 



head 



way. 



His 



teeth are good," said 
his older opponent, 
" but with the help of 
my saint, (crossing 
himself) I will soon 



/ come up to him. 



His was no idle 
boast, for in an hour 
all was devoured and 
the gorged champi- 
ons, lying upon the 
floor, respectfully 

kissed the ground in token of gratitude to 

their benefactor. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



77 



When the Esquimau wishes to travel, 
he fastens his dogs to a light sledge by long 




traces, and whip in hand with his fur skins 
drawn about him takes his seat upon it, and 



78 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

is whirled over the snow at tremendous 
speed. His whip is a curious affair. From 
the end of a stock only about a foot long, 
extends a lash of some twenty feet. Woe 
to the unfortunate driver who does not know 
how to use this lash, and to be able to 
bring a resounding blow on the ear of an 
unruly dog. The fresh track of a bear is 
scented and the whole pack is away like a 
whirlwind, while the rider tumbled off his 
sledge by collision with some hummock of 
ice is left to get home on foot as best he can. 
Dr. Hayes tells of his experience. " The 
wind was blowing at my back, and when I 
had gone far enough and wanted to turn 
around and return, the dogs were not so 
minded. There is nothing they dislike so 
much as to face the wind, and feeling very 
fresh they were evidently ready for sport. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 79 

After much difficulty I brought them at last 
up to the course, but I could keep them 
there only by constant use of the lash, and 
since this was three out of four times blown 
back into my face, it was evident I could not 
hold out long, besides my face was freezing in 
the wind. My arm, not used to such violent 
exercise, soon fell almost paralyzed, and the 
whip-lash trailed behind me on the snow. The 
dogs were not slow to discover something 
wrong. They looked back over their shoul- 
ders inquiringly, and discovering that the 
lash was not coming they ventured to 
diverge gently to the right. Finding the 
effort not resisted they gained courage, and 
increased their speed, and at length they 
wheeled short round turned their tails to the 
wind and dashed off on their own course, as 
happy as a parcel of boys freed from the 



8o 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



restraints of the school-room, and with the 
wild rush of a dozen wolves. I could soon 
again use the whip, and managed to turn the 
intractable team among a cluster of hum- 




DANISH SETTLEMENT IN GREENLAND. 

mocks and snow drifts, which somewhat 
impeded their progress. Springing suddenly 
off, I capsized the sledge. The points of the 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 8 1 

runners were driven deeply into the snow, 
and my runaways were anchored. A vigor- 
ous application of my sinew-tipped lash, soon 
convinced them of the advantages of obedi- 
ence, and they trotted off in the meekest man- 
ner facing the wind without rebelling." 

The Esquimaux extend over the whole 
continent of North America ; but in Asia we 
find several distinct tribes. Such are the Sam- 
ojedes, the Ostjaks, the Jakuts, the Tungusi, 
and others. But while they differ in minor 
points, they are alike in general appearance and 
in their mode of life. Among all the arctic 
nations settlements have been attempted, but 
they are but poor affairs inhabited by only a 
few venturesome trappers or traders whom 
hope of great gain alone can tempt to lead 
such a forlorn life. Of all these northern 
settlements, none is more mournful than that 



82 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

of Siberia. Here come every week long trains 
of prisoners whom the Russian government 
banishes to this prison land. Political offend- 
ers, criminals, even the roaming vagabond, all 
go to Siberia. Twelve- thousand are thus an- 
nually added to its population. The place 
allotted to each depends on his crime. The 
worse this has been, the more northerly his 
place. Murderers and burglars go to the mines 
at Nertschinsk, from which they never emerge 
alive. But the ordinary criminal has every 
inducement to reform and become a good 
citizen. A piece of good land is given him, 
with a horse, two cows, a hut, and the neces- 
sary tools to till the ground. For several 
years he has to pay no taxes, so that if a 
sensible and industrious man he may often 
attain a degree of comfort which he never 
dreamed of in his former days. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 83 

These Siberian peasants are said to be 
men of great strength and capable of resisting 
the most intense cold, and Russia is said to 
have no finer subjects than the children of 
those whom she thus compels to colonize her 
frozen regions. In addition to the occupa- 
tion of tilling the soil, a vast number of 
people are employed as carriers. The great 
quantities of silver, copper and lead produced 
by the mines at Nertschinsk, have to be 
transported across the country to the markets 
of Russia, and the provisions required by the 
thousands of workmen have in turn to be 
carried back to the mines. 

Small are the chances of success to the 
bold man who attempts to escape. Every- 
where are the active soldiers, and should he 
make his way through them, the vast deserts 



84 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

and forests are peopled by a savage race, who 
are allowed by the Russian government to 
drive an arrow through any stranger not of 
their own tribe whom they may find wander- 
ing through their territory. 



CHAPTER IV. 

T X /"HILEall arctic lands are thus wild and 
desolate, there is one which is espe- 
cially worthy of attention. Though it is 
named Iceland it might equally be called the 
Land of Fire ; for it has volcanoes compared 
with which even Etna is puny. The whole 
island is of volcanic origin, and the mighty 
snow-clad peaks have often changed their 
garments of ice for those of fire, while 
streams of melted lava have poured into the 
sea through the valleys but lately filled with 
huge glaciers. At such times the great river 
Jokulsa, whose source is in the unknown 
wastes amid the everlasting snows, comes 
roaring to the sea swollen to overflowing 



86 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

with the melted ice and discolored with 
ashes, while at night the red glare from the 
burning mountain is reflected far and wide 
over the snows. Since the discovery of the 
island and its settlement, there have been 
over twenty-five eruptions of Mt. Hecla alone, 
and yet this is but one out of many peaks 
and is far from being the largest. The most 
serious eruption was from Skaptar Jokull in 
the year 1783. From this mountain went 
two great streams of lava. One fifteen miles 
in breadth extended over fifty miles, and one 
seven miles wide, reached a length of forty 
miles. Where these streams were pent in by 
the mountains, they were six hundred feet in 
depth and where they reached out over the 
plains one hundred feet in depth. For one 
whole year the sun never shone clearly, 
owing to the vast clouds of smoke that rose 




WT 



w 



u r i 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 89 

into the air, and showers of ashes fell cover- 
ing the ground in some places to a depth of 
fourteen feet. Even in countries so far dis- 
tant as England the sky was perceptibly 
darkened. The cattle died by thousands, 
the fish in the sea were poisoned and died, 
and the poor islanders were reduced to the 
last extremity by starvation and disease. 
The volcanic character of the island is shown 
in other ways than in such outbursts as these. 
Pools are found of boiling mud, from 
whose surface clouds of sulphurous vapor are 
constantly rising. Some are so thick that 
only occasionally does the surface rise, break, 
and emit the steam, while others are in a 
constant state of agitation. But more won- 
derful are the boiling springs, and especially 
the Great Geyser, as it is called. It is situ- 
ated in the centre of a mound of its own 



9 o 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



creation in the interior of the island, and its 
basin is perhaps seventy feet in diameter, 
while in the centre a well in width ten feet, 




ML HECLA. 



descends to unknown depths. Ordinarily this 
great basin is filled with perfectly clear boil- 
ing water of a temperature of 200 degrees. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 93 

Presently the water becomes agitated, a rum- 
bling beneath the ground grows louder, and 
suddenly a vast column of water is raised in 
the air, surrounded by clouds of steam, till it 
reaches the height of a hundred feet. Only 
for a moment or two does this last, when it 
sinks back and the fountain resumes its 
former quiet. The Geyser is not by any 
means regular in its discharges, often a whole 
day may pass without a single one, but a near 
neighbor called the Strokr may be made to 
perform by a simple trick. As its mouth is 
very small, a few shovelsful of turf completely 
close it up. It gasps and sputters for a 
moment and then the turf is hurled high in 
the air, followed by a column of spray, which 
after a few moments settles back as before. 
Though not so large as the Great Geyser, it 
is thought more graceful, while the ease with 



94 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

which its wrath may be aroused causes it to 
be far more of a favorite with the spectator. 

As the traveller approaches the coast of 
Iceland, his vessel passes cliff after cliff, 
standing out into the -ocean, until at length 
she drops anchor in the harbor of the ancient 
town of Reykjavik. Small though it may be, 
it can boast of a long existence. Ingolfr, the 
Northman, in the year 869, flying from the 
tyranny of his sovereign, resolved to seek a 
new home in Iceland. Though his country- 
men had visited the island, no successful 
settlement had been made. As he neared 
the stormy shores, he cast into the sea the 
sacred pillars of his- former home, vowing to 
build a new town where they should land. 
At the present day the appearance of Reyk- 
javik, is not such as we should expect from 
the romance of its foundation. " The town 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 97 

consists of a collection of wooden sheds one 
story high — rising here and there into a 
gable end of greater pretensions, — flanked at 
either end by a suburb of turf huts. On every 
side of it extends a desolate plain of lava, 
that once must have boiled up red hot and 
fallen hissing into the sea. No tree or bush 
relieves the dreariness of the landscape, but 
before the door of each merchant's house 
there flies a gay little pennon, and as you 
walk along the silent streets the rows of 
flower pots that peep out of the windows at 
once convince you that within each dwelling 
reigns the comfort of a woman-tended home." 
The domain of which this sturdy little 
town is the capital is a limited one. Though 
the whole island is of great extent, yet 
only one-ninth of it is capable of cultivation. 
The whole centre and northern part of the 



98 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

country is covered by a desert of lava, so in- 
hospitable that no one has ever explored it 
and from the parts under cultivation but little 
can be raised. A few hardy vegetables, such 
as the potato, are produced in small quan- 
tity, and grasses are grown for the support of 
sheep and horses. Tree life is almost un- 
known. The pride of the governor's garden 
at Reykjavik is a tree which is three inches 
in diameter at its base, and rises to the 
imposing height of fourteen feet. 

From such a barren soil the Icelander 
can obtain little. But the very hardships of 
his life only force him to renewed energy. 
The island is emphatically the home of birds, 
over one hundred varieties being found. 
Some of these afford him food, others furnish 
covering for his bed, while one is so fat that 
when its feathers are removed and a wick 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



99 



is run through its body, it is used as a lamp 
to light his house through the long northern 
winter. Sheep are raised, and the breeding 
of ponies for exportation is a very profitable 




occupation. As there are no carriage roads 
on the island, all travelling must be done 
on horseback and all food and baggage must 
be carried in the same way. Consequently 



IOO THE FROZEN NORTH. 

a small party of travellers make a large caval- 
cade and present a striking appearance as 
they pass along in single file, each horse 
tied by the halter to the tail of the one 
before him. 

It is to the sea, however, that the Ice- 
lander turns his chief attention, and here 
he finds a rich harvest, for the waters are 
fairly alive with fish. Great schools of cod 
seem to people the deep. On shore, too, 
they are everywhere. The rafters of the 
houses are hung with them, dried and 
smoked ready for use. They are piled up by 
the roadside like cords of wood, while their 
bones are either used for fire or are boiled 
and fed to the horses. Ship loads are sent 
each year to the cities of Europe, where they 
find, especially in Roman Catholic countries, 
a ready sale. It is even said that a new 



THE FROZEN NORTH. iol 

process has been invented by which the fish 
when dried is ground into powder and so 
exported as flour. 

As may be imagined from what we have 
said of his surroundings, the Icelander does 
not when at home live in luxury, and in truth 
his house is but a poor affair. Of only one 
story in height, built of lava blocks with peat 
for mortar, and thatched with peat, entered 
by a long, narrow, dark passage, and lighted 
by only a single window in the roof, ventila- 
tion is a thing unknown, and the whole place 
is apt to have an odor of fish. The travel- 
ler, therefore, when night overtakes him 
prefers, as there are no inns to take refuge in, 
the churches which are everywhere open for 
this purpose. Tiny buildings they are : — ten 
feet in width and twenty in length only ; and 
yet owing to the distance apart at which the 



IO. 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 



people live they are rarely filled with wor- 
shippers. The flat rafters overhead can be 




touched with the hands. In these sacred 
precincts the traveller takes refuge, piling 



THE FROZEN NORTH. T03 

on one side the benches used during service 
to make room for his blankets upon the floor. 
The colony that Ingolfr founded in the 
year 869 grew to be a mighty one. At a 
time when all Europe was in feudal slavery 
and no man could call anything his own, the 
free Icelanders met in council in the open 
plain, and each man claimed redress for any 
injury, without fear or hesitation. Justice 
was announced from the Logberg, or mount 
of laws, in the midst of the assembly, and 
was executed without fear or partiality. 
Then as now the sea was the scene of their 
greatest action. A hardier race of mariners 
and warriors was never known. The name 
of the Vikings became a terror everywhere. 
In their frail craft they crossed the wildest 
oceans, falling suddenly upon the sea-board 
cities with the sword, and returning home- 



104 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

ward laden with booty. So daring were 
their deeds, that they even ravaged the shores 
of the distant Mediterranean, and in the year 
iooo Leif Erikson crossed the Atlantic, and 
landing upon the shores of Massachusetts, 
passed the winter there. A colony was 
formed a few years later, which existed for 
many years. The Icelandic records give us 
the name of Snorre Thorfinsson, born on the 
shore of Buzzard's Bay, who was, so far as we 
know, the first white child born in the new 
world. 

The hospitality of these early Norsemen 
was unbounded. There are instances where 
some of the great chiefs built their houses 
across the highway, so that no traveller could 
pass without entering and partaking of their 
cheer. Their lives were those of men who 
were bred as warriors from their cradle and 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 105 

who never relapsed into luxury. So, too, 
their religion partook of the same severe 
character. Their gods were men of strength, 
Odin was their head. The sagas or poems 
which have been preserved to us represent 
him as an old man with a long gray beard. 
He rides across the clouds on his horse 
Sleipner. On his shoulders are perched two 
ravens, Reflection and Memory, who daily fly 
abroad into the world, and returning whisper 
into his ear what they have noted there. At 
his feet are crouched two wolves. Odin is 
especially the god of warriors, and it is his 
care that no hero shall ever die except in 
battle. From his home Valhalla he sends 
forth his maids, valkyries, who select the war- 
riors to be summoned to the halls of the 
blessed. To the Viking death was but a 
change to a more glorious life. 



iofi THE FROZEN NORTH. 

" 'Mid the crash of mast and rafter 
Norsemen leaped through death with laughter, 
Up through Valhal's wide flung door." 

Thor was another great god. He was 
the emblem of strength, and passed his time 
in contests with the frost giants. When the 
thunder was heard it was said that it was the 
chariot of Thor rolling overhead. He was 
girt about with a belt which redoubled his 
strength ; his hand was protected by a 
mighty gauntlet ; while with his great ham- 
mer, Mjolner, he could split asunder the 
hills. The aurora was his beard, and in the 
storm they seemed to hear him chaunt, 

" The light thou beholdest 
Stream through the Heavens 
Is but my red beard 
Blown by the night wind. 
Mine eyes are the lightning 



THE FROZEN NORTH. 107 

The wheels of my chariot 
Roll in the thunder ; 
The blows of my hammer 
Ring in the earthquake/' 

Odin and Thor were the two chief eods, 
but beside them there were many others 
of whom we cannot now speak. How strong 
a hold this religion had over our Saxon an- 
cestors can be seen from our names for the 
days of the week. Wednesday is but a cor- 
ruption of the old Odin's day, Thursday is 
Thor's day, while Friday is so called from 
Freya the goddess of love. 

Christianity was first preached in Iceland 
about the year 981. The earliest missionaries 
of the cross did not go forth filled with the 
spirit of meekness that their Master taught, but 
with sword in hand. Thorwald and Thang- 
brand were the two first apostles to Iceland, 



I08 THE FROZEN NORTH. 

Of the latter an old chronicler says, he " was a 
passionate, ungovernable person, and a great 
manslayer, but a good scholar, and clever. 
He was two years in Iceland, and was the 
death of three men before he left it." These 
fiery christians were followed by others who 
resorted to more gentle means, and as a 
result large numbers were converted to Chris- 
tianity. So strong had the new religion 
become that the followers of the old gods 
were alarmed, and it was feared that civil 
war would follow. The better sense of the 
nation, however, prevailed, and it was decided 
to summon an assembly of the entire people 
to decide what the national religion should 
be. In the midst of the meeting, when the 
debate was at its height, a loud rumble of 
earthquake beneath their feet shook the 
ground. " Listen," said a follower of Odin, 



THE FROZEN NORTH. I09 

€t and beware of the anger of our gods ; they 
will consume us with their fires, if we venture 
to question their authority." The crowd were 
moved and all seemed lost to the christian 
party, when one of their chiefs demanded, 
pointing to the desolation about him, 
" With whom were the gods angry, when 
these hills were melted," a piece of common 
sense that carried the day, for the assembly 
declared Christianity the religion of the 
country. Since that day it has never changed. 
In the twelfth century monasteries 
abounded, and Icelanders inarched in the 
armies of the crusaders, but when the Refor- 
mation came, the people in a body accepted 
the doctrines of Luther, and the state religion 
has ever since been, as it now is, the Lu- 
theran. In their tiny churches, with a salary 
averaging less than two hundred dollars a 



IIO THE FROZEN NORTH. 

year, the faithful clergy labor unceasingly, 
preferring this rugged life to one of more ease 
in a more friendly clime, for there is no Ice- 
lander great or small who does not firmly 
believe his own to be/' the best land the sun 
ever shone on." 



V. 



